Posted on 9/1/2008 at 9:39:37 PM
I’ve been away from the blog for a while because we just had the busiest month of our lives as wedding musicians and have had no time for writing - nor breathing, for that matter (except when absolutely critical for playing wind instruments)!
Update time. August was busy in a particularly rad way. We had a lot of really interesting special requests for music. We did “God Only Knows” by the Beach Boys, I sang “I Will” by the Beatles at two ceremonies, we did an Eels tune, one from Angels and Airwaves, a Jim Brickman song, a gorgeous one by Sade (“By Your Side”), an instrumental (guitar solo) from the Allman Brothers, another instrumental from Tom Petty that was originally part of a soundtrack, another soundtrack number from Shelter Surf which was totally lovely. We learned the Celtic Alleluia, played Sweet Child Of Mine a couple of times, Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely”, a lot more Beatles tunes, and then just this last Saturday, we did the main Star Wars theme for recessional. Awesome.
All this unusual (meaning, not from our normal existing repertoire) has been interesting and fun, and has been possible because David and I have combined forces to make the arrangements for all these tunes. He has an incredible ear and can listen to anything and figure it out, and then I’ll add my knowledge of classical musicians and what they/we need to see on the page in order to make sense of it and play the song, and somehow out of that we end up, eventually, with an arrangment.
Meanwhile, we’ve also been striving to improve our regular repertoire. I did a major overhaul of the string/flute quartet books: took out the stuff that we never play (cause we hate it and you would too), added better stuff (including two Stephen Foster songs arranged for quartet and about six or seven Mozart quartets - great stuff for a classical cocktail hour!), color-coded the pages and reorganized the entire contents. Now we are seriously ready to RAWK with the string quartet!!
We also went to the studio this week for the first round of recording. This time it was holiday music! You can hear what we did if you go to the Collage Music homepage and click the blue banner to get to the holiday page.
Next up in the studio sessions: Our new vocal jazz trio which will involve me on vocals, sax, and flute, and Bret on guitar and vocals, and Owen on bass and vocals. This is gonna be hot! We’re also going to record a couple of vintage holiday jazz standards to finish up the holiday sessions.
I will leave you with a couple of pictures from our varied August exploits.
- This is a chamber music “reading party” (something classical musicians do from time to time - just hang out and read stuff together. We read a LOT that night. This photo was taken during a reading of Schubert’s Octet for winds and strings:
- And this one is an example of what unruly classical string players do during a wedding ceremony, if left to their own devices. This is Adam and Justin, who play viola and cello respectively, at Mt Hood Bed and Breakfast. I love these guys. The next thing we played was Guns n Roses’ “Sweet Child Of Mine” - I think they were just gearing up for it…
Posted on 8/10/2008 at 12:22:28 PM
Get this, from Victor Zuckerlandl, a philosopher of music:
Hearing a melody is hearing, having heard, and about to hear, all at once. Every melody declares to us that the past can be there without being remembered, the future without being foreknown.
I haven’t had much time to write but we have been out and about all over the place at some exceptionally beautiful weddings. This past weekend in particular - Hoyt Arboretum, then a gorgeous little B&B out near Carlton called the Brookside Inn, Lakeside Gardens, Elk Cove Vineyards, the Gerding Theater at the Portland Armory, the Shakespeare Garden at Washington Park, Youngberg Hill Vineyards - even out at the coast in Garibaldi (a rare thing for us but a lovely wedding despite horrific weather).
I have many pictures to post and will get on it once I get through the weekend… but for now here’s one from last weekend.
This is Bret at Cathedral Park - we had just arrived and Bret was about to set up. In this picture he is walking through the ceremony site. I thought this was about the most RAD place for a wedding ceremony ever.
Gorgeous. The place is aptly named.
Here’s another - I can’t resist. This is Scott and Danielle at the Brookside Inn. I loved the weeping willow! (note Danielle’s Bridesman, too! This is seriously a happening trend, guys).
Posted on 7/23/2008 at 9:52:06 PM
Is this the new thing or what? In the last two weeks, I have seen both a Man of Honor and a Groomswoman. I love it! It makes me want to have groomswomen and bridesmen at my own wedding. Why not? Many of my closest friends are men, and while I certainly wouldn’t expect them to wear dresses, I could totally get into coordinating ties with my sisters’ dress colors…
Today’s big fun was Wendy and Chris’ wedding rehearsal - a rarity for me. Their wedding is Thursday, and Wendy chose a particularly unusual piece for her processional: a French art song entitled “A Chloris” by Reynaldo Hahn. It’s gorgeous and sweet at the same time, and lays very well in the key of E for her trio of flute, violin, and cello. It’s longish though, and I really wanted to check out how long it would take her to walk to work out the timing. So, I offered to come to the rehearsal for that purpose. Normally I can’t even consider rehearsal attendance on Thursdays or Fridays, but this was Wednesday, and I was free, so I considered it a perk of having a weekday wedding.
The rehearsal was fun, and I even stepped in for part of it as the Maid of Honor because the real MOH was stuck in traffic at the time (she showed up later). I wish I had the time to attend every rehearsal… maybe when I figure out how to clone myself… Until then, I’ll be somewhere in the office/practice room/rehearsal space/teaching studio/etc that is Collage Music HQ. Also known as the Opera House. Don’t ask why. 
Posted on 7/21/2008 at 11:10:19 PM
We lived!! So, I heard from more than one source that the GNR went over really well at Jessica’s wedding (thank you Jess for the idea!!). We had a grand time at Laurelhurst Park/Laurelhurst Club for Carrie and George. Skip commented that he thought my arrangement of “I Will” by the Beatles was good (ohh… gosh). I sang it at the ceremony and then K & G did the awesome-est thing: Usually the officiant says (for example): “George, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife… etc etc.” But instead, they made a point to have him say, “George, will you… etc” and then the statement from C and G was, as in the song, “I will.” Sweeeet.
The cocktail hour was even better. All this time, I’ve really been enjoying having two instrumental sounds to choose from (flute and alto sax) during a jazz/swing cocktail set. And of course I did that, but then since we had Marilee as well, we also had violin. So all in all, it made for a really colorful little ensemble: flute, violin, alto sax, cello, and guitar. When flower girls come by twirling and dancing, we know we are doing our job (and they did).
Sunday was sweet. David and Doug played together as a cello/guitar duo, and David said that he really likes Doug and that he’s a joy to play with. I agree! Doug even rewrote the violin part to Canon in D for cello, so that he could play it for the processional, since the violin part is gorgeous and the cello part is, frankly, boring. Yay Doug!
Then Liz and Skippy and I (as a flute, violin, cello trio) witnessed one of the most beautiful weddings ever. Jess had chosen the Bach Arioso for her processional, and not only did she purposely walk slow enough to let us finish the entire piece (which is one of my very favorites ever ever ever by Bach), but then when she and Daudi carved their initials into their beautiful bay laurel tree in the backyard during the ceremony, they did it in exactly the amount of time it took Skip to play though Ave Maria. Wow. We had another piece on board in case it took extra time, but they just nailed it. On purpose? Just lucky serendipity? Either way, it was awesome.
Today I met with three brides/grooms and planned out ceremony music. I love the advance planning!! We had a great time and came up with good stuff for all three - David was there in his adjacent office as peanut gallery adviser on the subject of non-classical music and helped us come up with ideas for recessionals.
Speaking of recessionals. I’m really into this idea of using something like Guns N Roses or Journey or Beatles or the Police or whatever, instead of the classical recessionals.
Why? Well, this is personal, and a matter of taste, but I’m finding that more and more, I totally love the really traditional ones - the Mendelssohn Wedding March “there goes,” Vivaldi’s Spring, Handel’s Hornpipe, and my new favorite, La Rejouissance by Handel.
But if it’s not going to be one of those top 4 (there maybe another I’m forgetting…), then I say, lets RAWK out! I mean, who wouln’t want to hear a string quartet play Metallica? I mean, we just did Guns n’ Roses….
Posted on 7/18/2008 at 12:12:11 AM
I was going to make this part of the last post but then decided that it should be its own!
So here’s a weekend in the life of Collage Music: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on 7/17/2008 at 10:43:31 PM
God Only Knows by the Beach Boys.
I don’t know if everyone’s like this, but I live my entire life with some piece of music or other stuck in my head at all times. Often more than one. Like right now, even: I have the Beach Boys on top, and then on another deeper layer, I have the first movement of the Bach solo flute partita going on, just because it was the last thing I played (I like to play Bach for myself for kicks, usually late at night, when I start getting less focused on whatever tasks are at hand).
Anyway this Beach Boys song is worthy of being stuck. It’s there because earlier today I made a string duo arrangement of it for a colleague who needs it for a gig tomorrow, then decided that I LOVE the song and I arranged it for flute, violin, guitar, and cello, and I think we may have to debut it at Kerry and George’s wedding on Saturday provided they’re into it. Maybe as a post-lude after the recessional.
Oh wow what a gorgeous song… Ok, I’m calling a recording session. This can’t go unplayed!
Posted on 7/17/2008 at 11:10:31 AM
Recently I came across the idea of separating the first dances, so that guests don’t get bored and start talking during the dances. You’d do the B&G first dance right as you enter the reception hall (perhaps the DJ or a band MC introduces you), then dinner is served immediately after. Then, once everyone’s had 30 or 45 minutes to sit, eat, chat, etc, call the first dances for mother/son and father/daughter. Followed by toasts, then cake, then get your party on. Brilliant? I thought so.
Posted on 7/11/2008 at 8:11:11 PM
At least I think it’s part 3. This is about the logistics of processionals. From our perspective, anyway.
If you haven’t read “Processional Ideas” parts 1, 2A, and 2B, do that.
Ok, on to logistics. In earlier editions of “Processional Ideas” I talked about music for processionals, as well as the necessity of considering who is walking and when. Here, I’ll go into some logistical things that I think deserve forethought.
The two main points I want to make:
Designate someone, whether it’s a professional you’ve hired, or not, to do the task of gathering the necessary people when the time comes. This is often like herding cats, and it’s a complicated job, so make sure that person is up for the task.
- Consider the walk itself and what’s involved in it - terrain, age/speed of walkers, etc.
Again, you want to make sure that everyone involved is up for the task. For some folks, it’s nothing. But walking even 20 yards can be a problem if you’re 90 years old (or if you’re 2!)
Coordinating processionals.
I’d always advocate for hiring a professional to do this, even if you don’t have an official “wedding planner” - many professional wedding planners offer day-of services that are, frankly, invaluable. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on 7/9/2008 at 4:44:15 PM
I just encountered this song and thought it would be a great one for a duet performance by me and Lesley…
I’m looking for a good excuse to work it up with her (if you need to know why, read my last post in which I gush forever about how great she is). Anyone game?
Posted on 7/7/2008 at 12:11:04 AM
Lesley RULES!! I have to share this. Lesley is our official ceremony vocalist - and while I’ve certainly been known to sing now and again, I’m really better with the jazz and most good ceremony songs are newer… Lesley, however, can sing anything. I mean ANYTHING, and make it sound awesome! She kills me. Here’s what went down:
Kathy (one of my favorite MOB’s ever!) booked us as a flute quartet for her daughter’s wedding last year, and as things progressed in the planning department it got way more interesting. First, the groom asked if we could play for the cocktail hour as well (yep!) and then Kathy really wanted a singer. Lesley was available.. but what song??
Kathy and her daughter were thinking of “Grow Old With Me” by John Lennon and I countered with “I Will” - a Beatles tune that I personally like better. After some consideration - and mind you, this is the week before the wedding - they came back with Shania Twain’s “From This Moment On.”
I called Lesley. She said, “why not?” I thought, I so totally do not know this song at all Read the rest of this entry »
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